Friday, 28 August 2015

The High Court at Hyderabad on
Friday posted to Tuesday next the quash petition filed by Amway India with the
plea that CID has no locus standi to investigate the criminal cases filed
against the company. The petition appealed to the High Court to quash the FIRs (First Information Report) filed in various police stations.

The Amway India filed the writ petition in
the High Court challenging the locus standi of the Crime Investigation
Department to investigate the criminal case filed against him. It may be
recalled that the same company filed a writ petition last year demanding
transfer of all criminal cases filed against the company to a single
investigating agency as criminal cases were filed at various parts of the two
States.

The single judge bench presided by Justice
B Siva Sankar Rao reminded that it was Amway India who asked for transfer of the
criminal cases to a single agency for investigation. He said that their counsel
was present in the court and everyone agreed to the proposal when the cases were
transferred to the CID. “How could they contest now that CID was not the single
agency to investigate the criminal case,” he wondered. The judge said that the
argument of the Amway India was not tenable. Expressing readiness to hear their
argument further, the judge posted the hearing to Tuesday next.

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

A direct sales company has been accused of misleading young adults as it aggressively attempts to recruit new sellers.A subsidiary of Amway, which has thousands of sellers across Australia selling health, beauty and home goods, hosted a series of information sessions in Melbourne recently, telling young people that they would be given free mentorship but failing to mention it was for Amway.One of those young people who was invited to a recent recruitment meeting in Doncaster, Liam, told Fairfax Media that the "very secretive" session was misleading and he felt let down by those involved."It was never mentioned that Amway was part of this. It seemed to be geared to people in my age group; that was most of whom turned up.""My impression of this group is that they tried to hide that it's actually Amway," he said.Liam, who is studying business at university and works at a supermarket, said he was approached by a regular customer who asked if he was interested in being mentored. He said the long-time customer did not mention direct selling would be involved.Liam said the meeting was run by a representative of Team Mak and Gen*E Group. Neither company mentions Amway on its websites or that direct selling is the business. Instead, they emphasis group holidays overseas, conferences and motivation quotes.Team Mak is an official subsidiary of Amway Australia. There are dozens of such subsidiaries, or "Independent Business Owners", around the world, which have been established by successful sellers, who can earn a commission on new recruits and their sales.On its website, Team Mak says it is an "association of people, using proven business, mentoring and training resources to help people achieve a greater level of financial freedom and more time to enjoy their lives".Team Mak director Peter McKenna said he was concerned to hear about Liam's experience, adding that anyone within the company whose conduct was misleading would be retrained."We teach a transparent process where people are shown a video before they are even invited to a meeting. The video reveals the relationship between Team Mak and Amway," he said.Amway Australia distanced itself from the recruitment drive, with its general manager Michial​ Coldwell saying that type of approach was "totally unacceptable"."There have been occasions over time where Amway has found that distributors have attempted to prospect on a "look and see" basis rather than by using the business opportunity or brand as a first instance approach," he said. "That strategy is not encouraged by Amway."Coldwell said Amway's rules of conduct specifically preclude "misleading prospective distributors into believing that the approach is anything other than for the purpose ofeither the sale of Amway products or the offer of an Amway business opportunity"."Our rules of conduct are very strict in the conditions they place on our IndependentBusiness Owners, and we have a demonstrable track record of enforcing those rules."According to the Direct Sellers Association of Australia, combined sales through direct selling reached $1.5 billion in 2013, with more than 32,000 people part-time and 7700 people full-time workers. One-quarter are involved in complementary healthcare products, followed by cosmetics and household goods.Direct Selling Association of Australia executive director John Holloway said the industry had changed dramatically in the past 30 years."From time to time, you're going to get people who rely on practices of the past and I'd be amazed if Amway put up with it," he said."Legitimate direct selling derives from the sale of product, not the recruitment of people."